A look back at Lost by some random over-educated dudes on the internet

I haven't had cable for a few years now, and even when I did, I didn't follow too many serial dramas. However, about a year ago, a friend of mine, Master Joseph Buscemi, implored me to get in on Lost before the show ended. Even though I respect the Master's opinion on television, movies, and pop culture, I resisted for awhile. I did so mostly because I enjoy being obnoxious, but also because I worried about getting sucked into a huge time-sink. In the end, I finally agreed and I even managed to catch up on the first 5 seasons of the show before the final season began.

Last Sunday night, the series ended with a two and a half hour extravaganza. This sparked a fury of conversation between Joe and I which was interrupted by the demands of real life. Neither of us were content to let it end with that, and so we have decided to let the dialogue seep on for awhile. As there is a real void of Lost related discussion on the internet by random people, we thought we would chronicle this discussion online on this here blog. Anyway, be forewarned that we will definitely spoil many major plot points for those of you haven't seen the show and plan on doing so.



Well, it looks like I (Rick) am kicking of Lost week, but what may turn into something bigger. Here goes: there were two main threads in Season 6: the wrapping up the on-island action with Jacob and the Man in Black being the driving force (I still can't believe they refused to give this guy an actual name); and, the parallel universe. The latter turned out to be a purgatory of sorts for most of the people who were on the island (but conspicuously not all) who constructed it so that they could be together when they go off into the afterlife. At least that's what I think it was. Regardless, I suspect we can agree that it was mostly the writers' way of having their their cake and eating it too.

They needed to be able to kill off characters for dramatic purposes. However, the audience had become quite attached to a number of these people. So the writers also needed a way to be able to treat them lovingly --- to let them ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after. Well, not live, per se. But to go somewhere in the afterlife that we assume is happy. Perhaps back to the island, except this time it is a tropical paradise with monkey butlers, all the food they can eat, and fewer smoke monsters.

To be honest, I think it kind of worked. This may be because my expectations for the show dropped as I got through seasons 4 and 5, but I wasn't really disappointed. But what about the make-up of that group in purgatory? Like I said, there were definitely some conspicuous omissions. Eko probably didn't show up for practical reasons --- I suspect the actor wasn't interested. The actor playing Walt probably looks crazy old by now. But what about Michael? I guess he said his ghost was stuck on the island. I guess. But I didn't Lapidus either (full disclosure: I love Lapidus)? Miles gets to tag along, but nobody thinks about inviting Lapidus? He is the only reason any of you ever got off the island. He saved some of you TWICE! And then there is Sayid, who is just so happy to have found Shannon again. Do things just get really awkward when the two of them run into Nadia
in the afterlife?

Your turn, good sir.

Rick